Family and the Igbo novel

Abstract

This paper examines the portrayal of the Igbo family in four novels: Ubesie's Isi Akwụ Dara N'ala (1973), Nzeako's Nkọlị (1973) and Jụọchi (1981), and Madụekwe's Uru Nwa (1978). Each of these novels explores problems that mar family relationships in Igbo traditional society. Ubesie's Isi Akwụ Dara N'ala portrays how a family can be destabilized by war, and a marriage can be ruined by a wife's unbridled waywardness and promiscuity. Nzeako's Jụọchi exposes how a wife's arrogance and negligence of her domestic responsibil- ity, as well as a husband's moral laxity can destabilize a family. Nzeako's Nkọlị explores how co-wives' bitter rivalry and acrimony disrupt harmonious and cordial relationships in a po- lygamous family, and are sometimes occasioned by inimical external forces. Finally, Madụekwe's Uru Nwa depicts how a man's distrust and allegations of infidelity against his wife can lead to a broken home. Uru Nwa also shows how a female child doggedly playing a manly role can reunite her parents. These and other attributes of Igbo family life, highlighted by each of the novelists, show that Igbo novels depict a range of human social behavior.